Voting on Tuesday for school budgets, BOE

School district residents in Hewlett-Woodmere and Lawrence can go to the polls in their respective communities on May 15 to vote on the school budgets and candidates for the Board of Education.

In addition, residents in the Lawrence School District can also vote on the Peninsula Public Library budget and a trustee running unopposed for re-election.

The proposed budget for Hewlett-Woodmere is $105.785 million and includes a 2.47 percent spending increase. The district’s state tax-levy cap is 1.91 percent — under the mandated 2 percent — and the tax levy — the amount of money needed to be raised through taxes is $93.78 million.

Four board candidates are running for three seats. Incumbent Stephen Witt, Jonathan Altus, Melissa Gates and Fred Usherson. Witt, Altus and Gates are running as a team. Usherson is running independently. All terms are three years.

Voting is at the Woodmere Education Center at 1 Johnson Place in Woodmere from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Lawrence district residents can vote on a 93.1 million proposed budget that meet’s the state’s cap of 2 percent. The tax levy is $80.5 million.

The district is offering a retirement incentive of $30,000 each to 13 teachers and altering its Universal Pre-K program by cutting up to nine teachers. Lawrence is expected to partner with a local college to have dual-master graduates teach the Pre-K program.

This budget also includes other cost-cutting moves to offset a $3.2 million increase in salary, benefit and other program costs.

Two incumbent trustees, Uri Kaufman and Abel Feldhamer, are running unopposed for their third and second terms, respectively. Both terms are for three years.

Peninsula Public Library’s proposed budget is $299 million, an increase of $82,645 increase over the current fiscal plan. Employee salary and benefit costs are up $88,745.

The supplies budget has been cut nearly in half to $33,050 through the completion of a radio frequency security program that tagged every book with a computer chip. Printing, publicity and postage was reduced by $2,000 with an increased use of emails.

One trustee, Sarah Yastrab is up for re-election. Yastrab is running unchallenged for her first five-year term. She was elected last year — beating appointed trustee Patricia Pope — to finish the last year of the unexpired term of Eva Marie Doran.

There are four polling places where residents can vote depending on their election district. Number Two School, 1 Donahue Ave. in Inwood; Lawrence Middle School, 195 Broadway in Lawrence; Lawrence High School, 2 Reilly Road in Cedarhurst and Village Hall, 65 the Plaza in Atlantic Beach.

Voters who went to Number Six School now vote at the high school. Voting is from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.